Pav Bhaji

Hmmmmmm goes my heart, when I hear that. AmAr prepared it few weeks back & I went gaga over it. I wanted to try it myself before I put it on my blog. Mine turned out to be red in color. Nevertheless good for a beginner. AmAr's bhaji is on top.

Some trivia: -

Pav bhaji (also transliterated as pao bhaji and pau bhaji) is a fast food dish native to Maharashtra and popular in most metros in India. In Marathi pav means bread (the term derives from the Portuguese "pão") and bhaji means a curry and vegetable mix. The serving of pav bhaji consists of the bhaji (a potato based curry) and the pav (bread) garnished with coriander and chopped onions. Pav is a meat-less dish, which is high in carbohydrates and fats (if served with butter) and bhaji is high in carbohydrates and proteins.

The origin of this dish is traced to the heyday of the textile mills in Mumbai. The mill workers used to have a short break for lunch. A full lunch which was not rushed probably needed more time than what was available. A light lunch was also preferred given that physical work followed immediately. A vendor understood this and came up with this dish using items or parts of them available on the menu. The role of Indian bread or rice was taken up by pav and the curries that usually go with Indian bread or rice were amalgamated into just one spicy concoction-the 'bhaji'. Thus was born-- the celebrated pav-bhaji!

Ingredients: -

1 medium sized carrot

5-6 beans

cauliflower few florets

250g peas

2 medium sized Capsicum

1 big tomato

1 small tin of tomato Paste

4 medium sized onions

3 medium sized potatoes

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ginger-garlic Paste

2 tsp pav bhaji masala

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp jeera

1 tsp turmeric

3 green chilies

1 tbsp Lemon juice / lemonade

coriander & kasoori methi leaves for garnishing

Salt

Butter

Pav buns

Method: -

1. Pressure cook all the vegetables with enough salt.

2. Once done, mash them and keep it aside.

3. In a pan add butter. Add jeera & turmeric.

4. Add onions & saute it until transparent.

5. To this add ginger garlic paste, sugar & green chilies. Mix well.

6. Add the garam masala & pav bhaji masala. Cook for another minute or so.

7. Now add tomato paste & the tomatoes.
8. Add the mashed vegetables & enough water to cover the mixture. Cook on medium flame for 10 minutes with constant stirring.

9. When the gravy thickens, add coriander & kasoori methi. It smells heaven! :)

10. Add lime juice & chopped onions & serve hot.

In Germany we get something called Nan brot. I tried Pav Bhaji with them. It was good. Else for the Pavs: -

1. Slit pavs horizontally leaving one edge attached. (like an open book).

2. Apply butter (as desired) & roast open on a tava.

3. Roast it to the desired crispness is acquired.